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News :: Government Secrecy : Iraq : Labor : Political-Economy : Protest Activity : Regime |
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Armor Scarce for Big Trucks Serving in Iraq |
Current rating: 0 |
by Thom Shanker and Eric Schmitt
(No verified email address) |
09 Dec 2004
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"If they i.e.d. you in this thing, there won't be enough of you left to package up and send home," a Marine sergeant said earlier this week, as he showed embedded reporters to one of three open-backed Humvees assigned to a raid on a suspected rebel stronghold raid south of Baghdad. Among troops in Iraq, i.e.d., for improvised explosive device, is shorthand for the roadside bombs that have killed about two-thirds of Americans who have died in combat.
At briefings, commanders resort often to an old Marine adage, "Improvise, adjust, overcome," and are dismissive of complaints. |
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 - Congress released statistics Thursday documenting stark shortages in armor for the military transport trucks that ferry food, fuel and ammunition along dangerous routes in Iraq, while President Bush and his defense secretary both spoke out to defuse public criticism.
Soldiers confronted Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Wednesday with complaints that the Pentagon was sending them to war without enough armored equipment to protect them. One soldier who challenged Mr. Rumsfeld was apparently prompted by a reporter traveling with his unit. [Page A18.] The commander of American ground forces in the Middle East responded Thursday to the complaints with a vow to provide armored transportation into Iraq for all troops headed there.
"The concerns expressed are being addressed, and that is, we expect our troops to have the best possible equipment," Mr. Bush said. "And I have told many families I met with, we're doing everything we possibly can to protect your loved ones in a mission which is vital and important."
The House Armed Services Committee released statistics on Thursday showing that while many Humvees are armored, most transport trucks that crisscross Iraq are not.
The committee said more than three-quarters of the 19,854 Humvees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait carry protective armor, which can vary in quality. The most secure are factory-armored Humvees, and the Pentagon has received only 5,910 of the 8,105 that commanders say they need. But only 10 percent of the 4,814 medium-weight transport trucks have armor, and only 15 percent of the 4,314 heavy transport vehicles.
The uproar has exposed some of the most crucial challenges facing the Pentagon: how to equip and train troops for a war whose very nature has changed.
A resourceful insurgency has seized on an American vulnerability - the shortage of armored vehicles - and attacked supply lines with roadside bombs. These trucks are driven primarily by reservists, while a much greater percentage of active-duty soldiers are deployed in direct combat, and disparities between these troops have already prompted the Defense Department to begin sweeping changes in the way soldiers are trained and equipped.
These issues gained new intensity and widespread attention because they were raised not in the safe confines of a Capitol Hill hearing or a Pentagon suite, but by a scout with the Tennessee National Guard who directly pressed the secretary of defense in the deserts of Kuwait just days before the soldier is to be sent into Iraq for a year.
At Camp Buehring, a staging base for American troops entering and leaving Iraq, the scout, Specialist Thomas Wilson, said his unit had been forced to dig through local landfills to find scrap metal to bolt onto their trucks for protection against roadside bombs. The incident was startling in part because of the soldier's willingness to challenge a cabinet official, but it emerged Thursday that a newspaper reporter embedded with the troops had helped orchestrate the questioning.
Mr. Rumsfeld, after leaving Kuwait for India, said it was valuable for senior officials to hear concerns directly from troops, but he offered no immediate changes in how the Army was reacting to the problems.
"I think that it's good for people to raise questions," he said. "It gives senior military leadership that has the responsibility for these matters a chance to hear them, talk to them."
Gone are the days when the American military could plan for fighting along dangerous front lines while relying on a relatively safe rear area for logistics.
"Last year, we began to see an increase in improvised explosive device attacks against our forces, primarily against convoys that were moving throughout Iraq," said Lt. Gen. R. Steven Whitcomb, commander of coalition ground forces in the Middle East. "And they began having an impact on our soldiers, a deadly impact, as we all know."
In a hastily arranged video news conference from Kuwait, General Whitcomb said the Army had since rushed armored vehicles to take troops into Iraq, and had hastened to add armor to others.
"I've got enough metal, I've got enough folks, and I've got enough time to meet our schedule that ensures that no combat unit in a wheeled vehicle goes into Iraq now that is not in an armored vehicle," he added. "So we're continuing to work feverishly to ensure that they meet our requirement, and that's that nobody goes north without it."
Continuing shortages have prompted soldiers going to Iraq to scrounge for steel and ballistic glass, improvising shields that have come to be called hillbilly armor.
At the transit camps in Kuwait, Army and Marine Corps drivers weld antishrapnel collars onto the hoods of their trucks, to deflect exploding debris while maintaining visibility. Sandbags are laid on the floors of Humvees, trimming the skimpy legroom from economy class to steerage. On the battlefield, there is an air of resigned acquiescence about the lack of armor, rather than bitter complaints. Among units that lack armored Humvees, the mood 20 months into the war tends more to black jokes than to recrimination.
"If they i.e.d. you in this thing, there won't be enough of you left to package up and send home," a Marine sergeant said earlier this week, as he showed embedded reporters to one of three open-backed Humvees assigned to a raid on a suspected rebel stronghold raid south of Baghdad. Among troops in Iraq, i.e.d., for improvised explosive device, is shorthand for the roadside bombs that have killed about two-thirds of Americans who have died in combat.
At briefings, commanders resort often to an old Marine adage, "Improvise, adjust, overcome," and are dismissive of complaints.
Yet others remain angry. "This is a big problem that demands immediate attention, and what you saw yesterday from Rumsfeld shows that he fails to understand what goes on the ground," said Paul Rieckhoff, a former infantry platoon leader with the Florida National Guard in Iraq who now runs an organization called Operation Truth , an advocacy group for soldiers and veterans. "This is a life or death situation for guys over there. Complacency, incompetency, or negligence, I don't know what other excuse there could be. But when these guys screw up, we bleed."
The kits to add extra protection to vehicles already in Iraq are being produced by the United States Army Matériel Command, where officials said they were scrambling to speed up the work and complete the most recent order from Iraq before the previous goal of March 2005. "We're trying to ramp up and accelerate the process, and there is a possibility we might meet the requirement prior to that time," said Tesia Williams, an Army spokeswoman.
At the same time, she defended the Army's efforts to date in armoring the Humvees used in Iraq. According to figures supplied by Ms. Williams, the Matériel Command first received orders for 1,000 kits in November 2003, followed by orders for 2,870 in December; 800 in January 2004; 2,090 in February; and 1,516 in April 2004. More orders received last summer brought the total order to 13,872, of which about 75 percent has been filled, she said.
Only some of the work has been contracted out, mainly to a plant in Ohio run by O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt, a unit of Armor Holdings. The rest of the kits are being produced by civilian employees of the Army working at depots in New York and six other states, where they are using laser-cutting machines to cut steel purchased directly from two mills.
Armor Holdings also produces armor for new Humvees, and the company said it told the Army last month that it had the capacity to increase its production to 550 vehicles a month, compared with the 450 vehicles is handling now.
Military officers at the Pentagon expressed no surprise that it was a member of the National Guard who raised the issue with Mr. Rumsfeld. Already, the length and number of Guard tours and the number of their members killed and wounded have imposed unexpected stresses on the Guard and Reserves, whose members have not always been as well trained and equipped as active-duty members.
The system for training, equipping, mobilizing and deploying reservists was not ready for the historic increase in call-ups since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, officials acknowledged. The Guard and Reserves clocked nearly 63 million duty days last year, more than five times the totals recorded annually in the late 1990's. As of Wednesday, the total National Guard and Reserve personnel on duty around the world and in the United States stood at 185,019.
Democrats in Congress rushed into the debate on Thursday, saying one of Mr. Rumsfeld's chief duties was making sure that the troops would be safe.
Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and one of the harshest critics of the administration's Iraq policies, said troops lack some protective equipment, in part, because of the urgency with which the United States went to war.
"This was a war of choice, not necessity, to be waged on our timetable, not Saddam's," Mr. Biden said in a statement. "And why is it that, 20 months after Saddam's statue fell, our troops still don't have the protection they need? Congress has given this administration virtually every dollar it has asked for in Iraq."
Thom Shanker reported from Washington for this article and Eric Schmitt from New Delhi. Reporting was contributed by John F. Burns in Baghdad, Iraq; John Files in Washington; and Michael Moss and Leslie Wayne in New York.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
http://www.nytimes.com |
Related stories on this site:
US Admits the War for ‘Hearts and Minds’ in Iraq is Now Lost
Iraq-Bound Troops Confront Rumsfeld Over Lack of Armor
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Back Home, the Bluntness Was No Surprise |
by Scott Shane
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
09 Dec 2004
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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Dec. 9 - Lyndon K. Wilson still bears the scars of shrapnel wounds he suffered as a marine in Vietnam 36 years ago when an enemy mortar round hit as he skirted a rice paddy. So on Wednesday morning, when he first saw television coverage from Kuwait of his son posing a pointed question to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld about inadequate armor for military vehicles, what he felt was pride.
Well, and maybe a little fatherly concern.
"I thought, 'Way to go, man,' " Mr. Wilson, 58, said Thursday of his reaction to watching his 31-year-old son, Specialist Thomas Jerry Wilson, stand up among hundreds of other Army troops and ask why soldiers had had to scrounge discarded scrap metal to shield their vehicles against bombs. "Later I thought, 'Hmm, there might be some retribution.' "
Knowing that Jerry, as his family and friends call him, was no shrinking violet, Mr. Wilson was "shocked but not surprised" that he would be willing to put the question so directly.
"Rumsfeld said, 'Any questions?' " Mr. Wilson noted. "Well, if you don't really want questions, that's the wrong thing to say to Jerry."
What Mr. Wilson did not expect was the way the news of the ordinary soldier who had confronted the traveling secretary of defense would flash around the world, putting the earnest face of his 6-foot-3, 230-pound son on countless television screens and newspaper front pages. On Thursday, as he drove around town trying to get a few errands done for his business, Lyndon's Aircraft Service, his cellphone rang every few minutes with friends offering congratulations and reporters demanding to know how he felt.
"I'm just a poor country boy, and these have been the craziest two days in my life," he said on his way to a local radio station for yet another interview.
The captivating tale of speaking truth to power took another unexpected turn Thursday when it emerged that a reporter for The Chattanooga Times Free Press, Edward Lee Pitts, had previously discussed with Specialist Wilson and another soldier questions they might want to put to Mr. Rumsfeld.
Mr. Pitts, who is traveling with Specialist Wilson's unit, the 278th Regimental Combat Team of the Tennessee National Guard, said in an e-mail message to colleagues that he had learned that journalists would not be permitted to ask questions at Mr. Rumsfeld's meeting with the troops and had therefore encouraged Specialist Wilson to ask about the problem of insufficient vehicle protection.
"Beforehand we worked on questions to ask Rumsfeld about the appalling lack of armor their vehicles going into combat have," Mr. Pitts wrote in the message, which was posted on the Web on Thursday.
Some commentators, including the radio host Rush Limbaugh, suggested that Mr. Pitts's involvement had tainted Specialist Wilson's question. But the issue of inadequate protection against insurgents' bombs has been raised for months in a variety of units deployed in Iraq. And the commander of the Tennessee National Guard, Maj. Gen. Gus L. Hargett Jr., issued a statement in Nashville supporting Specialist Wilson and saying top military officials were aware of the problem.
In any case, people who know Specialist Wilson say, he is not some sort of dupe who could be manipulated into asking a question for someone else.
"He's one of the older guys in his unit, and I think he probably felt he should say something they all were thinking," said his former wife, Regina Wilson. "Jerry's not afraid of taking heat."
Ms. Wilson lives in nearby Ringgold, Ga., a short drive from Chattanooga, with the couple's 10-year-old daughter, Megan, and 5-year-old son, Thomas. Their divorce became final Dec. 1, but they remain on good terms, she said.
Jerry Wilson grew up in Ringgold and served in the Air Force from 1993 to 1996. A pilot from the age of 17 who had helped with his father's aircraft maintenance business, he was an aircraft mechanic in the service and was deployed to Haiti when his daughter was 2 weeks old, his former wife said.
When he left the Air Force, he worked installing Internet cable equipment but missed both the military lifestyle and the opportunity to serve, his family said. In June 2003, he enlisted in the Tennessee National Guard. He and other members of his unit trained for a month in the Mojave Desert at Fort Irwin, Calif., before leaving for Kuwait.
A sampling of opinion here suggests that Specialist Wilson has become a hero even before heading from Kuwait into Iraq.
"I think the man showed a lot of character to ask that question," said Eddie Mansell, a Chattanooga police officer who wears a bulletproof vest on the job and knows the value of protective gear.
For Lyndon Wilson, thoughts of his son awakened memories of Vietnam.
"I tear up sometimes, watching the news," he said. "I know what they're going through over there. I wish I could snap a finger and bring them all home."
He paused for a moment in the hectic round of interviews and phone calls, gazing at a snapshot of his son that arrived from Kuwait last week. It was inscribed in hasty black marker: "Dad - It's my turn. I'll be back before you know it."
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company |
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Background and Clarification |
by Saul Hansell
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
09 Dec 2004
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he soldier with the Tennessee National Guard who asked Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld a pointed question in Kuwait on Wednesday about the lack of armor on military vehicles was prompted by a reporter for The Chattanooga Times Free Press, according to Tom Griscom, the newspaper's publisher.
The reporter, Edward Lee Pitts, is embedded with the 278th Regimental Combat Team of the National Guard. His article on the town hall meeting made no mention of his own role; that came to light yesterday, when an e-mail message he wrote to a colleague at the newspaper boasting of his involvement in the questioning was posted on several Web sites.
His account prompted criticism from the Pentagon and from conservative commentators.
In recent weeks, Mr. Pitts wrote several front-page articles for The Times Free Press about how soldiers of the 278th, preparing to head into Iraq from Kuwait, were hunting down scrap metal to make armor for their Humvees and trucks. In his e-mail message he said that he had taken two soldiers with him to the town hall troop meeting and that "we worked on questions to ask Rumsfeld about the appalling lack of armor their vehicles."
He then found the sergeant handling the microphone for the questioning and "made sure he knew to get my guys out of the crowd," he wrote.
When one of the two, Specialist Thomas Wilson, asked Mr. Rumsfeld about the use of "hillbilly armor," other soldiers broke into applause, and Mr. Rumsfeld was put on the defensive. The exchange became the focus of news coverage of Mr. Rumsfeld's visit.
Lawrence Di Rita, the Pentagon spokesman, released a statement yesterday that did not mention Mr. Pitts by name, but was critical of his actions. "Town Hall meetings are intended for soldiers to have dialogue with the secretary of defense," he wrote. "It would be unfortunate to discover that anyone might have interfered with that opportunity, whatever the intention."
Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a Pentagon press officer, said that the incident had violated no rules and that no action would be taken against either Specialist Wilson or Mr. Pitts.
Rush Limbaugh, however, said on his radio program yesterday that Mr. Pitts had engaged in "cheap theatrics" that distorted the coverage. "For two days we think that this is an act of courage and bravery and, 'Oh, wow! Rummy got his,' " Mr. Limbaugh said. "We found out the whole thing today is a setup."
Mr. Griscom, the publisher, said it was legitimate for Mr. Pitts to discuss questions with the soldiers because reporters were not allowed to ask questions at the meeting.
"I know this is what the soldiers are talking about," Mr. Griscom said yesterday. "People forget that even if Lee talked to this soldier, the soldier made the decision to ask the question."
He said his newspaper had received many e-mail messages from soldiers and their families in response to its articles on the lack of vehicle armor. He added, however, that Mr. Pitts's article should have noted his involvement.
"It was supposed to be in our story, how the question got asked, but it was not," Mr. Griscom said.
Robert Steele, the Nelson Poynter scholar for journalism values at the Poynter Institute, said Mr. Pitts's action was not unethical or deceptive. "It appropriately held the secretary of defense accountable on a significant issue," he said yesterday. "It was not an irrelevant question, and it was asked meaningfully and respectfully."
He said the applause by the soldiers after the question was asked implied that many soldiers present "shared a concern about this issue."
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company |
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Comments by Spec. Wilson's Home Town on Local TV Station Website |
by support our troops -- impeach Bush
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
09 Dec 2004
|
I found these comments on the Channel 9 website:
http://www.newschannel9.com
They are very telling about the state of our nation.
Community Comment Board
Local Soldier Questions Rumsfeld
A local soldier with the 278th stood up to the U-S Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld today and is now making national headlines. And, his father is proud.
Rummy
By Anonymous
On Wednesday, December 08 @10:34PM
"You go to war with the army you have" - That's about the dumbest remark I've ever heard lately.
[Reply to this comment ]
Re: Rummy
By Ethel Stephens (stephens226 (at) wmconnect.com)
On Thursday, December 09 @10:20AM
I say Amen to that.
[Reply to this comment ]
Re: Rummy
By ZekeMacNeil (not (at) home.com)
On Thursday, December 09 @06:14PM
Web: http://blog.zekemacneil.com
As a former soldier, I have to say that I am appalled that Rummy would even think such a thing.
[Reply to this comment ]
Thank You For Speaking UP!
By Proud
On Wednesday, December 08 @10:54PM
We're all proud of you, soldier. Thank you for speaking up. Those 19 then 18 then 23 who refused to transport, there was a valid reason for that. They chanced possible court-martial or worst for standing up against what would have turned out to most likely be a suicide mission.
Perhaps this soldier and those 18,19, 23 who refused have helped to save HOW many lives, we will never know.
Just because Uncle Sam owns you doesn't mean you have to put yourself at unnecessary risk. Just the opposite, when Uncle Sam owns you he should make sure you are safe, protected and as well taken care of as possible. The truth is, for those of us who have loved serving, is our soldiers are not being treated well by this admn.
Halliburten employees are better treated, given better equipment all at the expense of tax payers' dollars than our soldiers who are placing their lives on the line.
[Reply to this comment ]
Good job
By Daily Texican (dailytexican (at) gmail.com)
On Thursday, December 09 @10:28AM
Web: http://www.dailytexican.blogspot.com
That takes a lot of guts. This soldier should be commended.
[Reply to this comment ]
Re: Thank You For Speaking UP!
By Had Enough
On Thursday, December 09 @04:40PM
We are all so proud of you!!! We need more like you to speak up! God Bless you and your family always!!!
[Reply to this comment ]
Proud of you Jerry
By Gail
On Thursday, December 09 @08:12AM
I'm very proud of you Jerry for speaking up and for serving your country. Good luck to you.
[Reply to this comment ]
Rumsfeld Cold Detached Response
By We're All G.I.s (General Issues) To This Admn.
On Thursday, December 09 @08:22AM
The cold emotional detached response Rumsfeld made to this soldier placing his life on the line is the same response most of us have come to recognize of this admn. as a hold.
In their eyesight, we're all G.I.s (general issues), easily replaceable. When falls in battle he/she's dragged out and another is sent in to take their place.
Afterall, the working classes will always repopulate ourselves in time to fight the battles rich old white men (who wouldn't dare get their hands dirty) dream up.
These guys only have their EYES ON THE PRIZE. O.I.L. Soldiers dying in the process is, in the words of your Commander in Chief, Irrelevant! I-r-r-e-l-e-v-a-n-t!
"Learn that word while reading, My Pet Goat" ;)
[Reply to this comment ]
Rumsfeld
By Ethel Stephens (stephens226 (at) wmconnect.com)
On Thursday, December 09 @10:06AM
I have a son who will be driving one of those trucks into Iraq.I am very proud of the soldier that stood up for all of them.WHAT IF IT was his son?I think it was really bad Rumsfeld to say what he did.
[Reply to this comment ]
No Subject
By Audrey (eloquentaudrey (at) gmail.com)
On Thursday, December 09 @02:36PM
At least now we know that this question didn't really come from the soldier but actually from a local news reporter with a clear political agenda against the Bush administration.
I would like to see our soldiers have the absolute best equipment, armor, and weapons. They deserve that. However, the right way to go about getting what you need is not to try to embarrass your superiors on national television.
[Reply to this comment ]
Re: No Subject
By Audrey Bet You Wouldn't Say That If
On Thursday, December 09 @07:04PM
re: "However, the right way to go about getting what you need is not to try to embarrass your superiors on national television"
**********************************
Bet you wouldn't be "embarrassed" for your superiors if it were your loved one taking unnecessary risks.
Unfortunately, Audrey, the only way to GET SOMETHING DONE "IS" by exposing what's going on, even if that means embarrassing your leaders.
For you to be more concerned about these LEADERS being embarrassed than about the life of these soldiers shows you about as emotionally bankrupt as this admn. has proven itself to be where our soldiers are concerned. It doesn't matter if a local reporter helped to phrase or get the question out. The point is, this is an ongoing problem. Has been one for quite sometime. Just think if those group of reservisit who refused to transport due to shoddy equipment hadn't been able to slip out and phone home, what do you think would have happened to them. These are not the only two incidents, believe me from someone who knows, these are simply the two that came to light.
[Reply to this comment ]
Thomas Jerry Wilson
By Melinda Stewart (melinda0028 (at) hotmail.com)
On Thursday, December 09 @03:06PM
I went to school with Jerry and rode the same bus with him. I was very surprised to see him on the news, but also very proud of him. I think the question that he asked was a valid one that deserved an answer. I hope that he is doing well and comes home safely very soon to be with his family.
[Reply to this comment ]
Proud
By Gail H.
On Thursday, December 09 @06:52PM
Jerry, I'm proud of you for speaking up about the safety of our troops and for serving our country. I know Lyndon and Anne are both very proud also. I'll be praying for you and your family. |
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US Stance on Armor Disputed: Company says vehicle orders waiting for OK |
by Bryan Bender
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
10 Dec 2004
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WASHINGTON -- Despite Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld's assertion that the military is outfitting Humvees with armor as quickly as possible, the company providing the vehicles said it has been waiting since September for approval from the Pentagon to increase monthly production by as many as 100 of the all-terrain vehicles, intended to protect against roadside bombs in Iraq.
Army officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged yesterday that they have not approved new purchase orders for armored trucks, despite the company's readiness to produce more. They said the Pentagon has been debating how many more armored Humvees are needed.
Rumsfeld, questioned by soldiers in Kuwait on Wednesday who said they have had to pick through landfills for scrap metal to boost vehicle protection, said the Army was working as quickly at it could to get armored Humvees to the front. It is "a matter of physics, not a matter of money," Rumsfeld said, adding that the Army was "breaking its neck." President Bush yesterday reiterated that "the concerns expressed are being addressed."
But executives at Armor Holdings in Jacksonville, Fla., as well as Army officials and members of Congress, said Rumsfeld's assertion that the protective equipment is being provided as quickly as possible is not true and added the company has been waiting for more purchase orders.
"We're prepared to build 50 to 100 vehicles more per month," Robert Mecredy, head of Armor Holdings' aerospace and defense unit, said in a statement. The company is producing about 450 armored Humvees per month, up from 50 in late 2003, when a sudden surge of attacks in Iraq exposed a lack of protective armor.
The company says that by February it could be producing as many as 550 fully armored Humvees per month -- with armor plates on the sides, front, rear, top, and bottom -- if given the go-ahead. The company estimated it would cost the military about $150 million a year to pay for the additional 100 vehicles per month.
The company said it also told the Army it could add new production lines and turn out even more vehicles.
More than half of the roughly 1,200 US soldiers who have died in Iraq have been killed by roadside bombs or in ambushes from rocket-propelled grenades. A lack of armor on thousands of older vehicles has been blamed for many of the deaths.
In an unusual public airing of grievances, Specialist Thomas Wilson, a member of the 278th Regimental Combat Team of the Tennessee National Guard, took Rumsfeld to task Wednesday at a meeting at Camp Buehring in Kuwait, where his unit is preparing to deploy to Iraq.
"We do not have proper armored vehicles to carry with us north," he told the Pentagon chief.
Rumsfeld told the troops the Army was doing all it could to get armor protection to the front, but was quickly criticized as sounding callous for telling them, "You go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you might want."
In an e-mail circulated yesterday, Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter Edward Lee Pitts, who is embedded with the 278th, boasted to colleagues that he had collaborated with the troops to formulate a series of tough questions for the Pentagon chief.
The Pentagon expressed regret that some soldiers, including Wilson, were apparently provided questions beforehand. "Town Hall meetings are intended for soldiers to have dialogue with the Secretary of Defense," Rumsfeld's spokesman, Lawrence Di Rita, said in a statement. "It would be unfortunate to discover that anyone might have interfered with that opportunity, whatever the intention."
Nevertheless, Bush yesterday agreed that the soldiers' concerns were legitimate. "If I were a soldier overseas wanting to defend my country, I'd want to ask the secretary of defense the same question, and that is, are we getting the best we can get us?" Bush told reporters in the Oval Office.
The Army maintained yesterday that it has undertaken a program to provide troops in Iraq with armored transportation since August 2003, when it became apparent that the quick victory in toppling Saddam Hussein was turning into a guerrilla war with frequent ambushes. The Third Army commander said the Pentagon first shipped all its armored Humvees, usually reserved for military police units, from bases around the world to Iraq before beginning to produce 50 armored Humvees per month.
The numbers increased over time to 450 per month, but there were periodic delays in upping production as the Pentagon kept reassessing its needs.
Yesterday, the Pentagon was clearly on the defensive. Lieutenant General R. Steven Whitcomb, commander of the Third Army, said in a video briefing from Kuwait that commanders are not sending any more wheeled vehicles to Iraq without armor protection for their Humvees or trucks.
Of the 30,000 estimated wheeled vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan, about 8,000 of the older models do not have armor protection. Of those that are protected, about 6,000 have full protection, while about 10,000 vehicles have received "add-on kits" providing front, rear, and side protection, but not top and bottom.
At the same time, 4,500 vehicles have received what Whitcomb called a "stopgap" measure, taking locally manufactured steel plates and bolting or welding them on the vehicles.
"We accept our responsibility to get our troops the best protection that we can," Whitcomb said.
The Army's Tank-Automotive Command in Warren, Mich., which purchases Humvees and trucks for all the military services, said many more fully-protected vehicles are needed. The military needs 8,105 so-called "up- armored" Humvees such as those being outfitted by Armor Holdings. Currently, there are about 5,900 up-armored Humvees in Iraq. As for those with "add-on kits," 13,872 Humvees in Iraq are needed, but only 9,100 have received the kits.
Pentagon spokesman Don Jarosz said he could not immediately explain why more orders have not been placed for the fully armored Humvees. But defense officials who asked not to be identified blamed bureaucratic delays in determining how many orders should be placed.
Representative Marty Meehan of Lowell and Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, Democratic members of the armed services committees, said yesterday they have talked repeatedly with Armor Holdings and informed the Pentagon as long ago as April that top officials were mistaken about how many Humvees with the best armor protection could be produced.
"That's just not true," Bayh told reporters in a teleconference, referring to Pentagon assertions that it is moving as quickly as possible.
Bayh, who raised the issue of production capacity with Rumsfeld in an Oct. 6 letter, said he could not explain whether the failure to increase production was due to "bureaucratic ineptitude" or simply "general denial" about the magnitude of the need.
Meehan said of Armor Holdings: "They have never been at full production. They haven't received an order from the Pentagon despite telling them they can do that. They told them in September. Rumsfeld claiming that there is a production limit is not true. There is production capacity that isn't being used."
Michael Fox, a spokesman for Armor Holdings, said the company is simply waiting for the Pentagon to say how many it needs: "We have always said, 'Tell us how much you want, and we'll build them.' "
Brian Hart, whose son John, a Bedford native, was killed when his unarmored Humvee ran over a roadside bomb in Iraq in October 2003, said the failure to produce armored Humvees and trucks at maximum capacity is emblematic of the administration's broader failure to fully face reality in Iraq.
"We are the largest economy in the world," he said yesterday. "It is inconceivable we can only get a few hundred vehicles out the door in a month."
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http://www.boston.com |
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